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FRAMINGHAM — Thomas Feldman didn’t always see his future waiting at the bottom of a dam. Feldman, CEO of a small startup in Framingham called Power Development International Inc., started his career as an equity analyst for State Street Global Advisors, but grew fascinated by the energy industry.

“I realized quite quickly that there is a lot going on,” he said. “It’s a very dynamic industry, and there’s a tremendous amount of change going on.”

Feldman grew convinced of water’s untapped potential.

“It’s an abundant, untapped resource,” he said. “It’s the largest contributor to our nation’s renewable portfolio mix currently, and there are massive opportunities to increase that capacity at a low cost, and in a way that’s compatible with the environment.”

PDI today announced it was awarded a $212,000 grant by the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) to further advance the commercial-scale deployment of high-efficiency, low cost hydrokinetic turbines in a collaborative effort with Holyoke Gas & Electric (HG&E). The project will use small hydrokinetic turbines to produce more power at slower water velocities, which allows the devices to make beneficial use of the otherwise wasted energy in naturally flowing water in canals, inland waterways, and downstream of conventional hydropower stations.

BUZZARDS BAY, MASSACHUSETTS – Power Development International (PDI), a Framingham-based clean energy company, announced the successful completion of a live demonstration of its proprietary hydrokinetic renewable energy system in the Cape Cod Canal. Massachusetts Maritime Academy hosted the week-long demonstration at its Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts campus. Power Development International’s hydrokinetic system produced 10 kW of reliable baseload power using the kinetic energy in the water passing through the Cape Cod Canal.

BUZZARDS BAY — A small crew of Massachusetts Maritime Academy staff and employees of a hydrokinetic turbine developer set out Thursday morning on their last day of testing a 10-kilowatt underwater turbine along the Cape Cod Canal.

The classic image of a turbine looks like a fan, and many of the current commercially available water turbines fit that mold, but Thomas Feldman, the co-founder and CEO of Framingham-based turbine developer Power Development International Inc., was testing a turbine of a different sort.